Two Australian sports tech startups just pulled off a $3.9 million buyout

ASX-listed sports tech company Catapult Group has announced it would buy the assets of Brisbane rival SMG Technologies in a deal worth up to $3.9 million.

Catapult will acquire two cloud software products from SMG Technologies – SportsMed Elite and Baseline – as well as six staff members, with a six-month transition phase by SMG to minimise impact to customers during the ownership transfer.

The deal consists of $1.4 million in cash upfront, $500,000 of cash and scrip dependent on a successful transfer period, and up to $2 million over the next two years, conditional on performance targets.

“We’re really excited to be able to combine our existing sales and support infrastructure with SMG’s AMS [athlete management system] product expertise. We’ve done a lot of work internally to ensure we’re well prepared to quickly integrate this product into our technology stack, and roll-it out through our sales channels to our large elite client base,” said Catapult chief executive Joe Powell.

Catapult was established in 2006 after the government-funded Cooperative Research Centre commercialised its wearable athlete monitoring technologies.

SMG Technologies arose out of a one-off project for the New Zealand national rugby union team, the All Blacks, called RugbyMed. Products for the broader sporting market have been developed since 2010 out of its Brisbane headquarters.

The SportsMed Elite product is a team and player data management solution, allowing the storage and analysis of “player wellness”, injury and medical records, wearable data and video. Baseline is a cut-down version for schools and semi-professional sports organisations.

“We think there is an exciting opportunity to leverage our existing channels and roll out a uniquely integrated Catapult AMS solution that benefits both our growing customer base and the broader market.”

Catapult stated that further details on the acquisition would be revealed at its full-year financial results announcement at the end of this month.